Non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure

ABSTRACT

A non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure includes a collector tube having a tube wall, a containing space, a screw hole and a penetrating hole. The penetrating hole is interconnected to the containing space, and the connecting sleeve includes a tube pillar having a through hole, a plurality of screw threads formed on an external periphery of the tube pillar. A ring plate is installed at an end of the row tube, and the row tube is passed through the tube pillar, and a front end of the tube pillar is abutted against the ring plate, and the row tube is coupled to a side of the collector tube through tube pillar, and the ring plate is compressed by the tube pillar and abutted against the exterior of the penetrating hole.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a solar collector, in particular to a non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In present solar radiant heat applications, solar collectors have become commercialized and economically more beneficiary. In the structural design of a conventional solar collector as shown in FIG. 1, the solar collector 1 comprises a set of collector tubes 10 a and a plurality of row tubes 20 a, and the row tubes 20 a are passed and coupled to a side of the set of collector tubes 10 a for absorbing solar radiant heat. When the solar collector 1 a is used, cold water enters from an end of a collector tube 10 a on one side, and then passes through the row tubes 20 a, such that heat exchange can be performed between the cold water and the row tubes 20 a, and finally hot water flows out from another end of the collector tube 10 a on the other side, so that the hot water produced after absorbing the heat can be reused.

However, the collector tubes 10 a of the aforementioned solar collector 1 a are tubes generally made of copper and coupled to the row tubes 20 a by a traditional welding method. Such welding method not only involves a complicated and time-consuming process and fails to comply with the mass production requirements, but also incurs a risk of having leakage at the welded position that requires a relatively complicated and laborious rework process or inconvenient maintenance and repair that follows. Obviously, the prior art requires improvements.

In view of the foregoing problems of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention conducts extensive researches and experiments, and finally provided a feasible design to overcome the problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure that connects a collector tube and a row tube by a mutual locking and sealing method to replace the conventional welding procedure, while maintaining a tight seal between the collector tube and the row tube.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides a solar collector comprising a collector tube, a connecting sleeve and a row tube. The collector tube includes a tube wall, a containing space formed by enclosing the tube wall, a screw hole formed on a side of the collector tube and not penetrated through the tube wall, and a penetrating hole disposed in the penetrating hole and interconnected to the containing space. The connecting sleeve includes a tube pillar of the through hole, and a plurality of screw threads formed on an external periphery of the tube pillar and provided for screwing into the screw hole. The row tube is a hollow tube having a ring plate disposed at an end of the row tube and abutted against an external side of the penetrating hole, and the row tube passes through the tube pillar, and a front end of the tube pillar abuts against the ring plate; wherein the row tube is screwed into the screw hole through the tube pillar and coupled to a side of the collector tube, and the ring plate is compressed by the tube pillar and abutted against the outside of the penetrating hole.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure, whose seal plate can maintain a tight seal between the connecting sleeve and the penetrating hole to prevent water inside the collector tube and the row tube from flowing out when the connecting sleeve abuts the tube wall of the collector tube.

Compared with the prior art, the solar collector of the present invention tightly connects the row tube to the collector tube by using components such as the connecting sleeve and the seal plate through a mutual locking and sealing method and maintains the tight seal between the row tube and the collector tube, so as to simplify the way of connecting the row tube with the collector tube and improve the application of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a structural design of a conventional solar collector;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a solar collector in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an assembly of a connector tube and a row tube in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an assembly of a connector tube and a row tube in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of combining a connector tube with a row tube in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of combining a connector tube with a row tube in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a solar collector in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of an assembly of a connector tube and a row tube in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an assembly of a connector tube and a row tube in accordance with the second preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an assembly of a connector tube and a row tube in accordance with the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The details and technical contents of the present invention will become apparent with the description of the following preferred embodiments accompanied with the illustration of the related drawings as follows. However, the drawings are provided for reference and for the purpose of illustrating the present invention only, but not intended for limiting the scope of the invention.

With reference to FIGS. 2 to 5 for a perspective view of a solar collector, an exploded view and a cross-sectional view of an assembly of a collector tube and a row tube, and a cross-sectional view of an assembly of the collector tube and the row tube in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention respectively, the solar collector 1 comprises a collector tube 20, a row tube 30, and a connecting sleeve 40.

In this preferred embodiment, the solar collector comprises two collector tubes 20 and a plurality of row tubes 30 installed between the two collector tubes 20. In addition, each of the row tubes 30 is embedded onto a solar panel 31, wherein the solar panel 31 is provided for improving the heat collection efficiency of the solar collector 1, but the solar panel 31 may or may not be installed in practical applications. Specifically, the structures of the collector tube 20 and the row tube 30 and the way of connecting them are described below.

The collector tube 20 has a tube wall 21 and a containing space 200 formed by surrounding the tube wall 21. The collector tube 20 further includes a screw hole 22 not penetrating through the tube wall 21 and a penetrating hole 23 disposed in the screw hole 22 and interconnected to the containing space 200, and the penetrating hole 23 has a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the row tube 30 in order to pass the row tube 30. Further, the tube wall 21 has a retaining wall 211 protruded inwardly from the periphery of the penetrating hole 23 and provided for being abutted and positioned by the row tube 30.

The connecting sleeve 40 comprises a tube pillar 41 having a through hole 410 and a knob 42 coupled to the tube pillar 41, and the tube pillar 41 includes a plurality of screw threads 411 formed on an external periphery of the tube pillar 41 for screwing the tube pillar 41 into the screw hole 22. The through hole 410 is disposed at the center of the tube pillar 41 and the knob 42 and penetrated through the tube pillar 41 and the knob 42.

The row tube 30 is a hollow tube and includes a ring plate 32 disposed at an end of the row tube 30 and abutted against an outer side of the penetrating hole 23. The row tube 30 is passed through the tube pillar 41, and a front end of the tube pillar 41 is abutted against the ring plate 32. In this preferred embodiment, the ring plate 32 is extended outwardly from an edge of the row tube 30 and integrally formed with the row tube 30.

The through hole 410 has a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the row tube 30 in order to pass the row tube 30 into the tube pillar 41. During the assembling process, an end of the row tube 30 having the connecting sleeve 40 is extended into the screw hole 22, and the row tube 30 is screwed into the screw hole 22 through the tube pillar 41 and coupled to a lateral side of the collector tube 20, and the ring plate 32 is compressed by the tube pillar 41 to abut against an external side of the retaining wall 211 of the penetrating hole 23. During practice, the screw hole 21 has internal screw threads 411 corresponding to external screw threads.

The solar collector 1 further comprises a seal plate 50 clamped between the retaining wall 211 of the penetrating hole 23 and the ring plate 32 to enhance the tightness between the retaining wall 211 and the ring plate 32 and prevent water from leaking from the collector tube 20 and the row tube 30.

With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 for a cross-sectional view of combining a connector tube with a row tube and a cross-sectional view of a solar collector in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention respectively, the solar collector 1 comprises two collector tubes 20 and a plurality of row tubes 30 installed between the two collector tubes 20, wherein a connecting sleeve 40 is sheathed on both ends of each row tube 30 separately, and a ring plate 32 is installed at both ends of the row tube 30 separately. Each row tube 30 is coupled to a lateral side of the collector tube 20 by using the connecting sleeve 40. In other words, the row tubes 30 and the collector tube 20 are connected by a locking method to replace the traditional welding method.

When the solar collector is in use, the two collector tubes 20 have a water outlet 201 and a water inlet 202 respectively. Cold water flows into one of the collector tubes 20 from the water inlet 202 and then flows through the row tubes 30. When flowing through the row tube 30, the cold water is warmed by sunlight projected thereon, and the water flows through the row tube 30 to perform a heat exchange with the row tube 30, and finally the water flows out from the water outlet 201. With the aforementioned method, the heat is exchanged to achieve the heat collection effect of the solar collector 1.

With reference to FIGS. 8 to 10 for the assembly of a collector tube and a row tube in accordance with the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, this preferred embodiment is substantially the same as the first preferred embodiment, wherein the solar collector 1′ comprises a collector tube 20′, a row tube 30′, a connecting sleeve 40′ and a seal plate 50′. The difference between this preferred embodiment and the first preferred embodiment resides on that the solar collector 1′ further comprises a sealing ring 60′ sheathed on an edge of the row tube 30′, and the sealing ring 60′ includes a ring 61 sheathed on the row tube 30′ and a ring plate 62′ extended outwardly from the external periphery of the ring 61′, and the ring 61′ is sheathed on an external side of the row tube 30, and the ring plate 62′ is abutted against an end surface of the connecting sleeve 40′. In other words, the ring plate of the first preferred embodiment is installed on the sealing ring 60′ in this preferred embodiment, and the sealing ring 60′ and the row tube 30′ are installed separately. In practices, the sealing ring 60′ can be fixed onto the row tube 30′ by welding or fusing to seal a gap between the ring 61′ and the row tube 30′.

During the assembling process, the sealing ring 60′ is welded onto the row tube 30′, and then the connecting sleeve 40′ and the seal plate 50′ are sheathed on the row tube 30′, and then the connecting sleeve 40′ is turned to rotate the row tube 30′ into the screw hole 22′ of the collector tube 20′, such that the row tube 30′ can be connected tightly with a side of the collector tube 20′ to maintain the tightness between the row tube 30′ and the collector tube 20′.

It is noteworthy that each of the row tubes 30′ can be embedded onto the same solar panel 31′ or different solar panels 31, 31′ depending on actual requirements.

While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure, comprising: a collector tube, including a tube wall, a containing space formed by surrounding the tube wall, a screw hole formed on a side of the collector tube and not penetrated through the tube wall, and a penetrating hole disposed in the screw hole and interconnected with the containing space; a connecting sleeve, including a tube pillar having a through hole, and a plurality of screw threads formed on an external periphery of the tube pillar and screwed into the screw hole; and a row tube, being a hollow tube, and having a ring plate installed at an end of the row tube and abutted against an outer side of the penetrating hole, and the row tube passing through the tube pillar, and a front end of the tube pillar abutting against the ring plate; wherein, the row tube is screwed into the screw hole through the tube pillar and coupled to a side of the collector tube, and the ring plate is compressed by the tube pillar and abutted against the exterior of the penetrating hole.
 2. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 1, wherein the tube wall has a retaining wall formed and protruded inwardly from the periphery of the penetrating hole.
 3. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 2, further comprising a seal plate clamped between the retaining wall and the ring plate.
 4. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 1, wherein the connecting sleeve further comprises a knob coupled to the tube pillar, and the through hole is penetrated through the tube pillar and the knob.
 5. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 1, wherein the through hole has a diameter greater than the diameter of the row tube.
 6. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 1, wherein the solar collector further comprises two collector tubes, a plurality of row tubes installed between the two collector tubes, a connecting sleeve passed through both ends of each row tube separately, and a ring plate installed at both ends of the row tube separately.
 7. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 6, wherein each of the row tubes is embedded onto a solar panel.
 8. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 6, wherein each of the row tubes is embedded onto the same solar panel.
 9. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 1, wherein the ring plate is extended outwardly from an edge of the row tube and integrally formed with the row tube.
 10. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 1, further comprising a sealing ring sheathed on an edge of the row tube and installed to the ring plate.
 11. The non-welding solar collector tube connecting structure of claim 10, wherein the sealing ring and the row tube are installed separately, and the sealing ring is connected onto the row tube by a welding method. 